Lineup injuries give the Rangers even more ways to improve via trade

The lineup took a couple of hits on Wednesday

On Wednesday, the Rangers announced that outfielder Shin-Soo Choo (lower back) and designated hitter Prince Fielder (neck) had been placed on the disabled list. In Choo's case, the injury doesn't appear to be serious, but Fielder could miss the remainder of the season. As MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan notes, Fielder's injury is related to the neck surgery that cost him almost all of the 2014 season.

Given the recurrence for Fielder and his ongoing state of decline (65 OPS+ for the year), it's possible his days as a productive regular are over. The bad news for the Rangers is that he's still owed more than $100 million through the end of the 2020 season. Yes, the Tigers are kicking in $6 million per to defray those costs, but that's still a lot of financial heavy lifting for Texas.

As for Choo, injuries have limited him to just 33 games in 2016, but he's been quite productive since the start of the 2015 season. He'll be missed.

Insofar as the current state of the roster is concerned, Choo and Fielder join on the DL fellow position players Josh Hamilton, Drew Stubbs, and Bryan Holaday. Throw in Nomar Mazara's declining outputs (his monthly OPS figures have run .852, .809, .681, .569) and Ryan Rua's likely regression, and the Rangers may have concerns. To take the roster spots of Fielder and Choo, the Rangers recalled outfielder Delino DeShields and infielder Hansel Alberto, but the Rangers may need more help than they can offer.

With Fielder out, the Rangers could look to trade for a DH. USATSI

All of that, naturally enough, brings us to the upcoming Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline. Yes, the Rangers, at this writing, have a four-game lead over the Astros in the AL West, and the SportsLine Projection System gives Texas a 69.6 percent chance of making the postseason (subject to change, of course).

That said, the Rangers have some underlying concerns beyond just a thinning roster. On the season, they're outscoring the opposition by just five runs. That means, based on runs scored and runs allowed, they should be just one game over .500. Strip away the sequencing of offensive events, which is largely random and which run differential doesn't take into account, and you get an even more troubling outlook. According to FanGraphs' "BaseRuns" system, the Rangers have played like a team that's three games below .500.

Obviously, the standings are what counts, but the concern for Rangers is that, although they've played .579 baseball thus far, that's probably not their baseline moving forward. Given that the Astros have made up seven games in the standings over the last month (a span that includes the All-Star break), that's even more of a worry. All of this is to say, GM Jon Daniels and company probably need to make splash at the deadline.

Maybe Joey Gallo and Lewis Brinson can be internal solutions on the position player front, but when you're squarely in contending mode, there's something to be said for major-league known quantities. As promising as that duo is, they're not that.

As noted above, Choo's absence shouldn't be a long one, so that's worth keeping in mind. As well, Jurickson Profar is poised to take over as the regular DH, and he figures to be much better than Fielder has been. However, that's also a potential hit to the infield depth, as Profar this season has seen significant time at third, second, and first. Maybe a run at, say, Jay Bruce, who's best suited to DH detail these days, would be in order, which would allow Profar to continue plugging positional holes with his productive bat.

There's also a serious need for a shutdown reliever. The Texas bullpen presently ranks last in the AL with an ERA of 5.05, and they also rank last in the AL in strikeouts as a percentage of batters faced. Things aren't as bad as the overall numbers, at least once Jake Diekman returns from the DL to join Matt Bush, Sam Dyson, and Tony Barnette, but even then they'll need additional depth and more swing-and-miss stuff.

In the rotation, Colby Lewis and Derek Holland are both on the 60-day DL and probably more than a month from being activated (barring setbacks). Kyle Lohse is presently taking turns for this team, and Yu Darvish remains a significant injury risk. As well, will A.J. Griffin remain effective? So, yes, the Rangers potentially need some starting pitcher depth, as well. Absent that, it will be even more important to fortify the bullpen.

As things stand, the Rangers are probably a playoff team. However, they've also been hit by injuries, and the body of evidence suggests they aren't as good as their record (the aforementioned SportsLine Projection System tabs them as a below-.500 team over the remainder of the season). That's why the Texas front office may need to give the Texas roster a serious helping hand before Aug. 2.